{"id":7337,"date":"2015-09-28T11:51:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T11:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-heart-of-a-coward-deliverance\/"},"modified":"2023-04-20T23:17:55","modified_gmt":"2023-04-20T22:17:55","slug":"review-heart-of-a-coward-deliverance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-heart-of-a-coward-deliverance\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Heart of a Coward &#8211; Deliverance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/def7af271e5fe74727fc44d87fc88b0b\/tumblr_nvci16ZK3Z1r8no6so1_540.jpg\" width=\"250\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">The runaway train <b>Heart of a Coward<\/b> have spectacularly proved the third album is nowhere near the end of the line.<\/p>\n<p>Split quite equally between face-melting growls and heart-wrenching cleans, <i>\u2018Deliverance\u2019<\/i> is a well-crafted statement of intent that they\u2019ve spent the last two years perfecting. Heralding a much tighter line-up and a wealth of outstanding support slots to prove it, 2015 is certainly <b>Heart of a Coward<\/b>\u2019s year.<!-- more --><\/p>\n<p>A hostile reception beckons <i>\u201cwelcome home\u201d<\/i> throughout <i>\u2018Hollow\u2019<\/i>, racing at a devastating tempo. The authoritative <i>\u2018Turmoil I \u2013 Wolves\u2019<\/i> and its atmospheric partner <i>\u2018Turmoil II \u2013 The Weak Inherit the Earth\u2019<\/i> take no prisoners, sealing frontman Jamie Graham\u2018s scathing growls with a bloody kiss. <i>\u2018Anti-Life\u2019<\/i>s catchy melodic masochism laced with malice produces an album highlight worth its weight in gold. Ayers and Haycock\u2019s masterful fretwork make themselves known, framed by anguished cries and a pulsing rhythm to boot.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cIs this what you want? Is this what you envisioned? I don\u2019t know who you are anymore,\u201d<\/i> Jamie calls out amid the complex, versatile and entirely unpredictable <i>\u2018Mouth of Madness\u2019<\/i>. Within seconds, anguished cleans transition to menacing whispers and hurl back to lung-shattering growls \u2013 this showcase of complexity puts even the experienced bands to shame. Similarly, the chaos of the title track pushes its chest out as confidently as humanly possible, amid flawless growls to prove this band have taken great care with this record, and rightfully so.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cWith one step forward there\u2019s always two to take back,\u201d<\/i> reflects the apocalyptic <i>\u2018Skeletal I \u2013 Mourning Repairs\u2019<\/i>, fantastically backed by the unrelenting talent of Christopher Mansbridge on drums. But before long, <i>\u2018Skeletal II \u2013 Arise\u2019<\/i> makes an artistic last gasp, closing on a piano fadeout that calls time on the band\u2019s defining record.<\/p>\n<p>What would usually be a stumbling block for any metal purveyors these days has turned expertly in <b>Heart of a Coward<\/b>\u2019s favour. The Milton Keynes outfit have been set free of the doubtful shackles of the first three albums \u2013 it\u2019s time to start taking these lads seriously.<\/p>\n<p>4.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Spotify Embed: Deliverance\" style=\"border-radius: 12px\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/1cJFQSfgXLU0rluJrMECXN?si=GHdSEXncQYOS93zqjJGihQ&#038;utm_source=oembed\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>\u2019Deliverance\u2019<\/em> by <strong>Heart of a Coward<\/strong> is released on 2nd October on <strong>Century Media<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Heart of a Coward<\/strong> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/heartofacoward\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/heartofacoward\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ali Cooper (<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/AliZombie_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@AliZombie_<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Milton Keynes outfit have been set free of the doubtful shackles of the first three albums \u2013 it\u2019s time to start taking these lads seriously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":93147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[3361,4492,3258],"class_list":["post-7337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-century-media-records","tag-deliverance","tag-heart-of-a-coward"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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